I vividly recall a recurring dream from my childhood when I would be running from a huge rolling pin of some kind and always escape at the last second but would always somehow be pricked by these huge needles. I know that it doesn't make much sense, but I've had this dream so many times over the years as a child that I can't seem to forget it. The pain felt so REAL. I would roll over in agony and wake up and be surprised that my surroundings were different from what I had seen in my sleep only moments earlier. This always made me wonder what could possibly insitigate such a distinct nightmare over the years. Till this day I can't really explain it. I know that Freud would have a field day--particularly with the sexual imagery of the needles :-), but I often wonder what could have made me always react in such a shell shocked manner upon awakening every time I had this same dream? All I could chalk it up to was being overactive as a child and this was my psyche's way of "curbing my enthusiasm," so to speak.
Comments (3)
I have dreams that feel real as well. I don't think that I've ever had recurring dreams though. But perhaps my memory fails me. I wonder though, did you feel the pain in your sleep, or was this pain felt when you woke up? Also, do you still have this dream? Your dream looks like you win over some obstacle, since you get away from the rolling pins, but then you have other obstacles to face, which are the huge needles that prick. To me, there seems to be some sort of outstanding metaphor in the dream. I'm not sure what it is though. I don't know what Freud or Jung have to say about this dream, but perhaps Hartmann has something to say about it, since you term it a "distinct nightmare".
Posted by Lady Hira | September 24, 2006 9:16 PM
Posted on September 24, 2006 21:16
What strikes me as important in this dream are the images. The rolling pin and the needles are both images of domesticity, usually associated with women, and in particular, mothers. These images are used in a menacing surrealist house of horrors way (that makes me think of the end of Dead of Night and that first scene in the funhouse in The Lady From Shanghi). The way that these domestic items attack you, it would seem to me that you have a fear of your mother squelshing you. As Jung would label her, the bad mother archetype is out to get you in this dream in the form of metaphors, giant pain-causing metaphors you must run from.
Posted by John A. Dreams | September 27, 2006 11:13 PM
Posted on September 27, 2006 23:13
I agree with John about the images being the predominant objects in the dream. I am not sure if the domesticity thing applies - I saw them differently compared with your actions. The huge rolling pin, if it caught up to you (which it never did is quite interesting), would squash you into flatness. The needles, on the other hand, would poke holes into you - probably multiple holes (I don't know how extensive the needles poke you in the dream and I'm not sure if it is even of any significance). The flatness could be something along the lines of maybe someone (you haven't realized yet - hence the recurrance) has been "stepping all over you" and taking advantage of you; the poking of the needles could be someone trying to continuously get at you and take out everything you care about. It seems a little ominous, and is probably not true, but I was just trying to show that what the objects are doing is probably of more significance than the actual objects. Lady Hira also has something there with the recurrance of "Distinct dreams" as Hartmann would say - but I wouldn't go so far as to say they are part of a Post Traumatic Stress Disorder victim. =)
Posted by True Romance | September 29, 2006 7:57 PM
Posted on September 29, 2006 19:57